Page 49 of Love Without Demands

Marvolo? What the fuck kind of name is Marvolo?

“Oh, uh, how lovely,” Bambi said through gritted teeth. “I didn’t realize we were hiring a wedding planner. I’ve been doing fine on my own.”

“Hmm, I’m sure you have,” Gianna replied with an edge of condescension in her tone. “But Marvolo here has coordinated some of the finest weddings from all over the world, including for royalty.” She looked up at me and batted her eyelashes.

I’m going to murder you,I told her with my intense gaze. I knew nothing about coordinating weddings.

“Royalty? Is that so?” Bambi’s appraising eyes snapped to me, and I gave her my full-wattage smile.

“Ahhh, yes. Queens and princesses and such,” I intoned, putting on an accent of indeterminable origin. I sounded like a cross between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Antonio Banderas. I attempted to think of something else I could say, but the only thing that popped into my mind was a name from the movie we’d watched on the plane. “Zee last was Princess Melissa of zee McCarthy Islands.”

Lehra camouflaged her snort with a cough, Nicolette covered a smile with her fingertips, and Artie turned his back, suddenly becoming extremely interested in an ugly painting on the wall of the foyer. Gia simply gave my arm an encouraging squeeze.

But Bambi bobbed her head up and down. “Oh Princess Melissa. Yes!” Her voice was almost a squeal. “The princess is stunning and such a kind-hearted soul. She does all that work with the, um, the…”

“Zee Pygmies?” I suggested.

Christ, Estrada. What the hell?

Chapter 14

Cruz was cracking methe hell up. Every time he used that ridiculous accent, I couldn’t even look him in the eye without laughing. And the white suit and ascot were the icing on the cake.

Okay, admittedly, he was actually pulling that look off with his fit body and deeply tanned skin against the light fabric.

And Gianna was rocking the snooty bitch act to a tee. She actually had Bambi Jones flustered. She patted my future mother-in-law’s arm and said, “You go do whatever you need to do to get ready. I’ve hired a car and driver for the weekend so you don’t have to worry about a thing. We’ll just shit in the living room and wait for you.”

I had to literally pinch my lips between my finger and thumb to keep from barking at the look on Bambi’s face. “You’ll… what?”

“I said we’ll sit in the living room and wait for you,” Gia said, blinking innocently. Now I understood what she was talkingabout when she said she mightaccidentallycurse in front of Bambi.

A little over an hour later, we were at the country club to check out the site. It was nice and would provide a lovely backdrop to the wedding, but it wasn’t somewhere I would have chosen.

“I guess this will do,” Gianna said, unimpressed, “but I do wish you’d consulted with me and Marvolo before locking yourself into this place, Lehra.”

I barely caught her subtle wink. “The decision wasn’t mine. I wasinformedthat the wedding would be here after it had already been rented,” I replied, finding it easier to speak up when I wasn’t being tag-teamed by Dwight and Bambi.

Gianna knew this but she acted shocked, turning narrowed eyes on the other woman. “Why wasn’t the bride consulted about the venue? That’s highly irregular.”

Bambi stumbled over her words, “Well, you see, there was a, um, a cancellation, and it was a really urgent matter to, well, to snap it up before someone else did.” She snapped her fingers in the air to demonstrate. “And I do love the club so much.”

Gia gave her the most syrupy smile I’d ever seen. “How sweet. Maybe you should get married and have your ceremony here. Perhaps a vow renewal ceremony?”

And for the rest of the day, every time Bambi gave an unwanted opinion, Gianna would reply with some version of, “Fantastic. You should do that at your ceremony, Bambi. But let’s ask Lehra what she thinks about it forherwedding.”

I’d never felt so heard. So supported. Nicolette and Artie spoke up several times as well and backed up everything I wanted. And dear, sweet Cruz, with his ascot and crazy accent, declared everything I requestedmagnifique!

When we dropped off Bambi at the end of the day, she looked so defeated, I almost felt sorry for her. But not quite. The woman needed to be taken down a peg or two.

Besides the groom's cake, the completely ridiculous headcount, and the location—which I had resigned myself to—I’d gotten pretty much everything I wanted. The boring menu had been replaced with a vibrant selection of foods, and the wedding colors were now springy and bright rather than blissful fucking blush.

The color choosing had almost made me bust a gut. After I’d whispered what I wanted to Cruz, he’d gone into full Marvolo mode, pressing his fingers into his temples as he closed his eyes.

“I am tinking… I am tinking… of zee rejuvenation of life. Zee approaching of spring. Zee blossoming of love.” He’d opened his eyes and clapped twice before shouting, “And voila! We will use zee spring colors.”

He was seriously the best.

At the hotel last night, Nic, Gianna, and I checked into our room, and then congregated in Artie and Cruz’s room across the hall. We laughed, drank, and ate everything on the room service menu before calling it a night.

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